Ang Lee's 3D Boxing Drama to Include Legendary Fights

We’ve noticed a pattern in Ang Lee’s directorial efforts. He chooses an unexpected genre, directs a fantastic film, wins an Oscar moves on to another unexpected genre, directs another fantastic film, wins another Oscar, etc.

Following this year’s win for Best Director at the Academy Awards for 2012’s Life of Pi, Lee now looks set to make his latest surprising foray into a new genre, this time into the world of boxing.

Deadline reports that the three-time Oscar-winner’s next venture will take an “epic” look at the biggest and most compelling rivalries and fights of the 1960s-1970s boxing era. Covering a span that includes classic fights like the “Thrilla in Manila” (Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier) and the legendary “Rumble in the Jungle” (Ali vs. George Foreman), Lee’s 3D depiction will aim to put audiences in the ring of some of the 20th century’s greatest sports moments.

Though details of the film’s plot are being kept quiet, we do know that Peter Morgan (The Queen, Rush) will write the script, with Lee and his longtime production partner, James Schamus, producing.

After Lee’s international success with 2000’s martial-arts-heavy Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2005’s Brokeback Mountain and last year’s visually astounding Life of Pi, it’s hard to bet against the Taiwanese-born director, even as he enters the unfamiliar territory of sports dramas.